Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Months of the Year: Circular Patterns

Over the summer, when I was at CAMT, I saw a session where the presenter talked about the calendar and the circular pattern it makes. So many times, we fail to really show our little ones this pattern in the calendar. We make patterns with the numbers on the calendar and we sing songs about the months of the year, but we do not really give them a visual of how the calendar goes in a circular pattern.

I took the ideas from the session and modified them slightly. Have students illustrate plates for each month of the year. You could do this in class individually or in groups or you could send a plain plate home for students to get creative with as a home-school family project. In Texas, teaching the days of the week and the months of the year are in our curriculum, so this lesson fits perfect with our units of study. Introduce the months of the year through read alouds and songs. Have students complete the plate project in class or at home. For the lesson, have students order the plates in a circle on the carpet. Show the plates in random order. See if students can match the artwork done with the month it would go with. Allow for discussion on seasons, holidays, weather, etc. After the plates are ordered in a circle. Have students match the name of the month to the plate, then the number associated with the month. Display the plates on a bulletin board for students to refer back to.

The plates I used to create my example for you were created by Stephanie Davis, a former student of mine. Stephanie's artwork and talent have always amazed me. I have included a few pictures of other work Stephanie has done, so that you can be amazed too! Watch for her name because one day I believe she will be famous!!

Here are a few close-ups of my favorite plates....

Some of Stephanie's work from kindergarten...

Stephanie and I when she was in kindergarten...

Great read alouds for teaching the months of the year and the days of the week.

I use to love making paper plates in school. There are cheap clock mechanisms you can pick up really cheap online so that the kids can design their own clocks which I found incredibly popular with kids and parents alike.